What holds us back at the edge of the cliff?
What might happen if we took that leap?
Phil Stutz is a psychiatrist based in Hollywood who has mentored and collaborated with therapist Barry Michels. He recently discussed the pair's innovative approach to helping their clients overcome creative blocks, fear of failure and feelings of worthlessness, and I found many of their concepts provocative and even inspiring, particularly Stutz's embrace of risk:
The risk you take has a feedback effect on the unconscious. The unconscious will give you ideas and it wants you to act on them. The more courage you have when you act, the more ideas it will give you. [1]
This quote evokes for me the feeling of standing at a cliff's edge, anticipating the thrill to come if I take the leap, but held back by fear--of a crash landing, of unanticipated difficulties, of the shame that would accompany failure. But Stutz's framing encourages me to see that both my fear and my courage can be self-reinforcing through their influence on my unconscious, and that taking a bold leap can be a powerful way of breaking fear's grip and unleashing my courage.
I'm reminded of a post from just over five years ago inspired by the work of my colleague Doug Sundheim:
It's instructive to ask Sundheim's question--When in my life have I felt most alive?--and to realize that when I've quelled my fears and pushed myself to take meaningful risks, the reward has been a renewed sense of passion, a clearer sense of purpose, and a deeper connection with life. [2]
Footnotes
[1] Hollywood Shadows: A Cure for Blocked Screenwriters (Dana Goodyear, The New Yorker, 2011)
[2] Doug Sundheim on Taking Risks (2006)
For Further Reading
Barry Michels' discussion of Phil Stutz's deceptively simple therapy drawings.
The Tools (Barry Michels and Phil Stutz)
Doug Sundheim on Taking Smart Risks (2013)
Photo by Justin De La Ornellas.
